I heard the water spraying as I began my descent into the basement. That is not a sound I was expecting as I went down to get a bag of tortellini from the pantry. I quickened my steps and called frantically to Zeke. He must have heard the panic in my voice and was right behind me.

The Hot water heater was gushing water out of some valve on the front of it. The concrete floor in the laundry area was covered with water but the floor drain was doing a pretty good job of letting it escape. The boundaries of the pool had not risen above the edge of the metal strip that separates the concrete floor from the carpeted area of the rest of the basement but looked as if it might at any moment...or had the water been spraying for hours and this was just the level at which the drain could carry it away?

I grabbed a broom and swished the water toward the drain while Zeke waded to the tank to figure out how to squelch the waterfall. He tried turning a handle at the top that appeared to be how water enteres the tank but there was a pipe an inch away from it that was very hot. He got a pair of pliers and tried to turn it that way and broke a piece off of the handle instead. We looked for instructions on the label of the tank but tat was for relighting the pilot light. I'd forgotten about the pilot light.

I tried to think who to call that would help out or that would know something. Angus was upstairs asleep after having worked all night and waking him wouold be a last resort. His brother, TJ, is a real handy man, he'd know but he'd be at work still. Everybody would be.

The water rushing out was ice cold. That told me that the tank had drained long ago and was refilling with the cold water which was spraying out and going down the drain (thank the Lord for that!). The pipe was hot so the tank was still reying to heat. I remembered 20 years ago when a neighbor's hot water tank had drained and went dry with the pilot light still on and their home has burned. I didn't have any details of that but that memory popped into my head. We needed to get everything turned off.

I'd already sent Zeke out to see if he could turn the water off, at least temporarily, at the road, where it comes into the house. Then I did what any red-blooded American girl would do in such a situation. I called my daddy.

I calmly explained what had happened and what we'd tried. Zeke was back from his jaunt unable to get the knob turned. After 20 years of never being used it had corroded. He squatted to see if he could read the words on the red knobs at the base of the tank. Dad told me to turn off the pilot light and you'd hear it go off. Zeke had found the words "vacation" (hey, we should have been using that all these years!) and "OFF" he turned it and we heard the puff as the pilot light went out.

The water was still spraying out but he found a pair of leather gloves and was able to turn the knob without being burned. The water instantly stopped spraying out but now I was worried that with the water empty from the tank and the pilot light off would the gas just be leaking out into our home? Zeke and I discussed whether you could smell propane gas and whether they add that smelling agent like they do with natural gas. I called my dad back and he said that when the pilot light is turned off the gas is shut off. Oh, yeah, ...duh.

I swished the water into the drain. Zeke told me that there was water in the garage too. Just puddles. The water had gone under the drywall.

So. We have no hot water. The tank kept draining for hours. When had it begun? Bo went through the basement on his way to school and it was wooshing then. I heard the water around 3:30 pm. I havent gone out to read the water meter...not sure I really want to know right now.